E-mail, calendars, attachments, contacts – reliance on these elements is at an all time high, making hosted Exchange a very appealing option these days.

According to the Radicati Group, over 55% of e-mail boxes are delivered as an outsourced service in 2006. That number is rising significantly every year, giving rise to a huge and profitable market. TopHosts spoke to three Microsoft Certified Exchange hosting providers in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom, to get their take on the current Exchange boom.

An Exchange hosting provider offers customers a server system with collaborative software, developed by Microsoft, that enables them to send and receive email, and make use of other types of interactive tools online or through wireless devices.

Peter Delgrosso, SVP of Corporate Communications, for Web.com says that they’ve seen huge results ever since they rolled out Microsoft Exchange Hosting featuring Outlook in late 2006. In the first quarter of 2007, Web.com sold over 1,000 mailboxes.

“We think customers can expect to see the number of providers of the (Exchange hosting) service to go up…” Delgrosso said. “What this ultimately means to the end-users however, is that they will have to work harder to choose the right provider for them.”

As more providers flood the Exchange hosting market, Delgrosso says shoppers need to be even more vigilant in assessing potential providers. He highlights the importance of simplifying e-mail service for customers, and says shoppers should look out for hidden fees or minimum mailbox requirements. Web.com’s plans feature easy-to-use Web-based administration consoles and dashboards, ideal for those that aren’t too tech savvy. He also noted their fixed, predictable, monthly, per-user approach to Exchange hosting fees, which also promotes multiple mailbox purchases.

Dale Bunten, Director of Marketing for Canada Web Hosting, told TopHosts that he agrees the market is currently growing in popularity and in complexity. To him, a managed solution is the best way to go for businesses.

“Exchange hosting is growing very fast. It’s a large percentage of our growth,” Bunten said. “As it becomes more sophisticated… it’s only going to drive people to the hosts because it’s going to require increased levels of expertise in order to maintain these services.”

Bunten says e-mail security and uptime shouldn’t be left to in-house supervision. But if you’re going to pick a hosted route, he thinks you should look carefully at a company’s track record and infrastructure. “Are you just getting an account on a shared box through another hosting provider, or is it the hosting provider itself that’s invested in the technology,” Bunten said. He explained Canada Web Hosting’s advantage lies in their highly advanced, geographically low balanced, clustered solution.

Mark Jeffries, CTO of Fasthosts Internet Ltd. in the UK, says they’ve seen a steady increase in email hosting signups, since their launch of Exchange products in 2003.

When shopping for an Exchange host, Jeffries says to look to Microsoft Gold Certified providers – companies that officially meet the standards of Microsoft. He also emphasizes the importance of flexibility and scalability when choosing an Exchange host. Fasthosts’ solution maintains all the functionality of standard MS exchange, while allowing you to add other Fasthosts Web hosting and email packages to it. You can even keep your existing Web hosting with another supplier and move your email to Fasthosts.

“By allowing businesses to choose the level of Exchange service, by determining how many mailboxes they require, and how much public folder space they need, we can provide all companies with the solution that best fits their requirements,” Jeffries said.